VOUKEFALAS

[HEPHAISTION]

SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT THE NAME VOUKEFALAS MEAN "WHO HAS A HEAD LIKE OX" AS KEFALI IN GREEK MEANS HEAD AND VOUS MEANS OX. BUT THIS IS WRONG! THE HORSE HAD A "V" (IN GREEK : B) WRITTEN ON HIS HEAD AS IT BELONGED TO PHILLIP. MACEDONIAN DIALECT PRONOUNCE V AND NO F SUCH AS VEROIA AND NO FEROIA. FALAKROS MEANS BOLD-HEADED IN GREEK BUT MACEDONIAN WERE PRONOUNCING VALAKROS. DON'T FORGET THAT SPARTANS WERE PRONOUNCING A AND NO I (IN GREEK H LIKE A LONG E).THERE ARE TOO MANY EXAMPLES.

[Yiannis]

Sorry but I've never heard this explenation before and it looks limpy to me. Do you mean that Philippos (+û+ë+ï+ë+É+É+Å+ô in Greek) was writen as +é+ë+ï+ë+É+É+Å+ô? Doesn't make sence. If we accept this then all his horses must have been marked this way and all of them should be called Voukefalas! Not to mention that the head of a horse is not exactly the best place to mark it.
Interesting theory but it does not convince me. Can you provide any sources?Regards,
Yiannis

[marcus]

I'm glad you asked that, Yiannis. I too wasn't convinced by the argument, but I don't know enough about horses, or about Greek, to be able to challenge it!I shall watch out for Hephaestion's answer...All the bestMarcus

[Apostolis]

Congratulations Hephaistion, because you are partly right. The Macedonians DID say +é instead of +û, but as Yannis noticed, all Macedonian battle horses should have been named after the king. But it may be possible, because Voukefalas was a special gift to the king by Dimaratos. I have proof about that in the Greek edition of Johann Gustav Droysen's History of Alexander. The comments and notes are written by Renos, Irkos and Stantis Apostolidis, and I am sure I saw somewhere the accent thing with the +é amd the +û. If I find it, I will post a message. +à+¦+Ñ+¬+ñ+P +¬+í+¦+£+½+í+ó+í +++¦+¬ +¬+í+¬ +»+¬ +ñ+¦+» +Ñ+ƒ+¦+¦+Ñ -++½+½+º+¡+Ñ+¦, +¿+í +P+¿+Ñ+½+í +¡+í +¦+¦+ª+º+¦+P+¦+»+¦+¼+Ñ +¦+» +¿+¥+¼+í +ñ+¬+Ñ+«+»+ñ+¬+¬+++¦+Ñ+¦+í +¬+í+¬ +¦+¬+» +½+Ñ+¦+¦+»+¼+Ñ+¦+++¦, +í+ú+¡+»+++¡+¦+í+¦ +¦+»+¦+¦ +í+¡+ƒ+ñ+Ñ+»+¦+¦ +¦+í+¡+¦+í+¦+¼+¥+¡+»+¦+¦ +«+¥+¡+»+¦+¦ +¦+»+¦ +Ñ+¬+¦+¦+£+ª+»+¦+¡ +í+¦+¦+í+ó+¬+¦+¦+¬+¬+P +½+í+¦+¦+Ñ+ƒ+í +¦+¦+»+¦ +¦+» +¦+¦+++¦+¦+¦+» +¦+»+¦ +î+Ñ+ú+í+½+¥+«+í+¡+ñ+¦+»+¦.